|
A genuinely concerned rector of St. Joseph’s College, Rev Fr Travis Gabriel subse
quently awarded the win to St. Peter’s College.
Unable to hide their disgraceful conduct with no regard for the rules of fair-play and decency, the Joes supporters were hell bent on preventing the Peterites from finishing off the match and invaded the field many times much to the annoyance of genuine cricket fans of their own school who could only bite their finger nails and watch the madness in deep sorrow.
Chasing a target of 66 the Peterites were cruising at 59 for 4 with Lakshina Rodrigo taking his side to the brink of victory as he gave the Joes no room to save face on the field of play. But much to the annoyance of the umpires, Rodrigo was stopped in his strides by the mobs of Joes supporters who brought their institution to disrepute in ugly scenes unseen in the past.
The umpires had no alternative but to call off the match with 2.4 overs remaining and the Peterites needing just seven more runs with six wickets in the bag.
Independent analysts told the Sunday Observer that the disruption only proved that school cricket was being run by a set of puppets in the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA) whereas in any other situation the offending school or team would be banned for the behaviour of their supporters.
The Peterites probably secured the result on the first day itself when they posted a rousing 304 for 9 declared and bowled out the Joes for 106 to enforce the follow-on.
Resuming their second innings at 28 for no loss, the Joes were finally bowled out for 263 after the tea break leaving the Peterites to make 66 in 12 overs for victory which was never out of reach.
Scoreboard St Peter’s College 1st innings 304-9 declared (Manilka de Silva 71, H Wanasekera 59, Ranmith Jayasena 56) St Joseph’s College 1st innings 106 (Taneesha Weerakoon 6-33) St Joseph’s College 2nd innings Revon Kelly c Rodrigo b R Silva 20 S. Rodrigo c Fernando b Weerakoon 31 Nipun Sumanasinghe run out 51 Jehan Daniel b Mohotti 01 Sahan Perera lbw Pathiranage 30 N Gunatilleka lbw Weerakoon 72 S. Fonseka c Fernando b Pathiranage 22 Malshan Rodrigo lbw Weerakoon 16 Charuka Ulandepitiya Mohotti 06 Harin Cooray b Weerakoon 06 Ruchira Ekanayake not out 00 Extras (w 1, nb 4, lb 3) 08 TOTAL (all out) 263 Fall of wickets: 1-42, 2-71, 3-93, 4-124,5-159, 6-185 206-7, 8-221, 9-258, Bowling: Weerakoon 40.4-8-88-4 R Silva 15-2-44-1 Mohotti 23-8-53-2 S Pathiranage 17-3-39-2 R Seneviratne 8-2-24-0 M de Silva 4-1-12-0 St Peter’s 2nd innings (target 66) Anishka Perera c Kelly b Daniel 02 I Fernando b Daniel 00 H Wanasekera c Rodrigo b Ekanayake 15 Lakshina Rodrigo not out 32 Manelka de Silva c Rodrigo b Ekanayake 02 Vinu Mohotti not out 00 Extras (w 7, b 1) 08 TOTAL (4 wickets) 59 Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-11, 3-49, 4-59. Bowling: Daniel 5-0-28-2 Cooray 2-0-15-0 Ekanayake 2.2-0-15-2